Hydroid, Inc., develops the REMUS AUVs used for plumbing the depths of
oceans, seas, and marine environments. Each REMUS consists of like technology
with subtle to not so subtle variations in their individual specs, depending on
the particular application.

Several different navies globally use the REMUS line of AUVs with its high
resolution remote spatial and temporal technologies for mine countermeasures,
assessing climate changes that can affect ecological systems, hydrographic
surveying, and much more.

I spoke with Hydroid to get theskinny on these cylindricalswimming automatons.Here's the scoop, Q&A style.

SERVO Magazine: What kinds of hydrographic
surveying, climate change assessments, and mine
countermeasures do the REMUS AUV robots actually
perform? How do they collect the data?

Hydroid: Hydrographic surveys — Hydroid AUVs have
been conducting high quality commercial surveys at low
cost for more than 10 years. During this period, AUV
technology has matured and advanced rapidly, up to a
point where reliability and capability now combine to
extend a ship’s survey capacity — even making the ship
itself redundant in some scenarios. AUVs — due to their
ability to carry sensors close to the bottom on an
acoustically quiet and non-intrusive platform — are ideal for
many applications within offshore and hydrography.

track record that has enabled survey companies to increase
their profits by lowering costs, increasing production, and
becoming more competitive. As AUVs continue to develop
and mature, they can do several subsea operations that
ROVs have traditionally handled. In particular, tasks like
inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) of subsea
structures and pipeline inspection have been the subject of
strong focused R&D efforts for several years. Other areas of
focus are environmental monitoring, under-ice survey, and
hydrography.

Regarding Climate Change Assessments — The oceans
are a leading indicator of climate change; climate change
affects them and they, in turn, affect the climate. Physical
oceanographers use AUVs to study these changes and
assess their impact on our future — including the harshest
environments on Earth: the poles and the deep ocean.
Hydroid’s AUVs offer technologies and capabilities that can
access these areas and collect the highest quality data.

Regarding Mine Countermeasures — The first
recognized use of AUVs as part of a live mine
countermeasures (MCM) operation occurred in March
2003, when US Navy mine warfare elements deployed as
part of Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’ took the Hydroid REMUS
100 system into the warm shallow waters of the Northern
Arabian Gulf and used its sidescan sonar to systematically
map the approaches into the port of Umm Qasr.

Regarding How They Collect the Data — The operators
send the vehicles out on missions with pre-configured